Matthews reaches 60-goal mark as Maple Leafs beat Red Wings

TORONTO — Auston Matthews looked a little sheepish after scoring his 50th goal into an empty net last month.

How the Maple Leafs sniper bagged No. 60 was a lot more like it.

Matthews scored twice — including the milestone effort on one of his patented snapshots — to become just the third player in the NHL's salary cap era to register 60 goals in a season as Toronto defeated Detroit 3-0 on Tuesday night.

After being thwarted by Red Wings netminder Alex Nedeljkovic on a couple good looks in the first period, Matthews scored his 59th from in tight with just over four minutes left in the second to set the stage for his 60th in the third.

The 24-year-old kept a puck in at the offensive blue line on a power play and moved into the slot as the seas parted before firing past Nedeljkovic's glove to send the crowd at Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy.

"It was pretty special," Matthews said. "Just the reception from my teammates, the crowd, I mean, everything.

"It just kind of sends chills down your bones."

Fans broke into deafening chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" for a superstar they believe more than deserving of his first Hart Trophy.

"There's a lot of players have been great years," said Leafs captain John Tavares, who had the home side's other goal. "I'm being biased, but to me, it's not close.

"Just the way he goes about it, the way he does it, the consistency, some of the things he's done ... you continue to shake your head."

Matthews, who had gone five games without scoring, joined Steven Stamkos in 2011-12 and Alex Ovechkin in 2007-08 as the only players to reach 60 goals since the mid-1990s.

He's also rewritten a chunk of the Leafs' record book this season as the first player to score 50 since 1993-94, the first to ever score